Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros or any of the characters involved in it. I am earning no profit from this story, other than the enjoyment of writing it and sharing it with others! I hope you all enjoy reading it!

Unfortunately, cards couldn't keep the fight at bay forever. At exactly 12:14, the alarm bells began going off again. Everyone immediately ditched the game and headed upstairs. Cloud was left standing again, and everyone looked to see what he would choose. Master Hand floated above him threateningly, his one finger held up, reminding Cloud of the glove's control over him.

"I'm not doing it for you this time, Strife," Master Hand informed him. "Do it willingly, or I'll be forced to punish you."

Cloud hesitated. Zack's voice rang in his ears. Whatever happens, protect your honor. Bowing before this fiend wouldn't be particularly honorable. He couldn't go back on his friend's words like that. On the vow he'd personally taken as Zack lay bleeding out on that cliff. Those words meant more to him than any pain possibly could.

"Get down," Snake hissed. "You hero types. Too proud for your own good."

Cloud remained standing.

Mewtwo stepped in. His eyes glowed violet and Cloud yelped as his body collapsed into a kneeling position. "Not you too!" he screamed, fighting against the Pokemon's control to no avail.

For your own good, Mewtwo assured him.

"It should be my choice!" Cloud cried. But he couldn't stand up. Mewtwo's violet magic danced on his skin, binding him to that position. He simply couldn't stand.

Master Hand watched the exchange with great interest. He glanced at Mewtwo questioningly, then decided he didn't care and went on with his planned announcement. "Fighters today are Cloud Strife and Toon Link. It starts in ten minutes." He snapped away, and the fighters were left alone.

Mewtwo released Cloud, and he stood up and marched across the room towards the Pokemon, who suddenly looked nervous. "You had no right to do that!" he cried. "No right!"

He'll hurt you, Cloud Strife. You don't...you refuse to understand that.

"I can handle torture," Cloud spit. "Out of everyone here, you know why I won't kneel."

Mewtwo stared at the floor. Whatever happens, protect your honor…

"Yeah. That's right."

I'm sorry. I haven't...really cared about anyone...in a long time. I don't want you to get hurt.

"Mewtwo, look who you're talking to. I've been hurt before. I'll be alright."

Mewtwo sighed heavily. Fine. Next time I will leave you to stand. But for now, you must fight.

"Where do I go?"

To your room, first. Master Hand will give you an outfit to wear. Then to the lobby. He briefly transmitted an image of the lobby and how to get there from the main room.

Cloud nodded. He rested a hand on Mewtwo's shoulder. "Thanks for caring. But don't do that again."

Mewtwo nodded quickly.

"Oh, and if I yell at you after the fight-"

I know. You and Shulk talked. I will not be hurt.

"Good. See you later." Cloud turned and walked back upstairs. Fox gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder, and Cloud just shrugged. He'd survive. He arrived at his room and opened the door, surprised to see one of the robots sitting inside, as though waiting for him. Lying on his bed was his SOLDIER's uniform. He hadn't worn that thing in years. After killing Sephiroth, he'd stopped wearing it. He wasn't a SOLDIER, and he was alright with that. So he stopped pretending to be something he wasn't. But putting it on again wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like he hated this outfit. He'd certainly worn worse things.

"Are you just going to watch me change?" Cloud asked the robot dryly.

It turned and left his room, standing just outside the door. Cloud shut the door in its face and hurried to change into the familiar clothes. He absentmindedly ran his hand across the slick metal shoulder pauldron. He reached for the Buster Sword, then paused. He really shouldn't take Zack's precious sword into a fight like this. It wasn't honorable at all. Beating some kid up while he was being controlled like an empty puppet..? Yeah, that really seemed like the kind of fight that Zack had intended this blade for. So Cloud chose the other one that didn't have any emotional value and then stepped out of his room. Seeing that he had obediently changed, the robot left to attend to other matters.

Cloud walked back downstairs as Mewtwo had instructed and across the main room. "Hey, you don't look half bad," Samus commented, walking with him to the long hallway at the other end of the room. "Some of the things people have to wear-oh, just look at Toon Link and you'll see what I mean."

Cloud turned around, waiting for the kid to catch up to him. He looked horrible. His light skin dyed completely black, his blonde hair also darkened, and his large eyes now almost glowed red. He looked like some kind of demon. He kept his eyes planted on the ground as he crossed the room, ignoring everyone who muttered something about him as he passed. Young Link seemed furious with this turn of events. He was walking next to Toon Link, his hands clenched in fists. He seemed to get angry pretty easily.

Toon Link came to stand next to Cloud. He paused, looking up at the taller man. "Uh, hello," he said shyly. "I'm Toon Link. We haven't met yet. I don't usually look like this."

Cloud offered the young boy a hand to shake, and he took it. "I know you don't," Cloud replied. "I saw you around yesterday."

Toon Link nodded, smiling softly. "I'm sorry we have to fight."

"Not your fault," Cloud replied.

"It's Master Hand's," Young Link butted in. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Zelda told me that they should have our next plan ready in only a few weeks."

Samus grinned. "We'll be ready when they are."

"I'll tell her that," Young Link said. "She worries, you know. Her and Shulk. That doing this over and over...how many times can we lose before people start giving up?"

"I don't think anyone here gives up easily," Toon Link pointed out.

"Kid's right," Samus agreed. "I, for one, will always back your plans. Even if we go through hundreds of them, we only need one to work."

"What about you, Cloud?" Young Link asked.

"I'm in," Cloud answered firmly. "I've been here two days and I already want to go home."

"Well, you'll have to get over that," Young Link admitted. "You'll be here a few weeks at the very least."

By now, they'd reached the beginning of the long hallway that Mewtwo had shown Cloud. Now he could see it himself. It was very long, very wide, and there were three doors along it. One on each side, and a huge set of double doors at the very end. The double doors were made of wood, and they were engraved with the symbol that Cloud had been noticing around the rest of the mansion; a circle with a plus sign cut out of the bottom left corner. The robots guarding this hallway blocked the way until Samus and Young Link stepped back, indicating that they were not trying to get down the hallway. Once Cloud and Toon Link were left alone at the entrance, the robots stepped aside and let them pass.

Toon Link led Cloud to the door on the right. Cloud would have figured it out on his own. Hanging over the door was a sign that read 'Arena Lobby.' The door on the left was declared to be 'Conditioning Room.' The giant double doors led to 'Master Hand and Crazy Hand's Office.'

"What now?" Cloud asked as Toon Link just sat on a bench and kicked his legs back and forth.

"We wait for Master Hand," Toon Link answered.

Cloud sat beside him, unsure how long that would be.

"You have a big sword," Toon Link said, leaning back and staring at the sword Cloud had slung over his back. "Wait. That one's different than the one you had yesterday."

Cloud shrugged the sword off his back and showed it to Toon Link, holding it in one hand without thinking about it. "Yeah. The other one is important to me. It...well, I got it from my best friend. He wouldn't be so happy about me beating up children with his sword, so I went with this one."

"I can hold my own," Toon Link said quietly. "Not that I want to fight you, but…"

"I'll expect a few bruises," Cloud promised.

Toon Link nodded, satisfied. "Is it heavy?"

Cloud offered him the hilt. Toon Link took it in both hands, then almost fell over as the weight dragged him down. Cloud took the blade back and helped Toon steady himself.

"Woah," Toon Link breathed. "You're very strong."

Cloud shrugged.

Master Hand arrived then, flashing into existence from nothing, his fingers relaxing from a snapping position. Two robots entered the room through the doors that Cloud and Toon had used, both of them wielding syringes. One of them, just as Shulk had said, held a vial. And the vial was labeled 'anger.'

"Don't resist," Toon Link said quietly. He held out his arm and allowed the robot to inject the drug into his system. He collapsed only a few seconds later, his red eyes rolling up in his head. The robots left him on the ground, not waiting for Cloud to comply. The one that had injected Toon Link grabbed Cloud's arms and held them behind his back. He struggled against its iron grip, but despite his immense strength he couldn't break free. While he was thrashing, the other robot approached him with its syringe. Master Hand watched the ordeal without a word.

The robot pressed its syringe into Cloud's arm. Cloud didn't dare move about any longer, not wanting to twist the syringe around while it was in him and dig the cut too deep. He remained still while he was injected with the controlling drug, and almost instantly felt woozy. His vision flickered, and his head felt heavy.

Now that he was stilled, the second robot took the vial and forced Cloud's jaws open, dumping the artificial emotion down his throat. He almost choked as it went down, not expecting the sudden and forced drink. But he didn't just give in to the drugs. He tried to remain conscious, pushing against the urge to fall asleep with everything he had. He kept his eyes open, kept his head up, stayed awake. Master Hand watched him fight the drug silently.

Cloud's eyes opened fully as fresh anger poured through his veins. It didn't take long for that anger to set in, it seemed. His Limit broke almost instantly, blue flames dancing around his body. He pushed the robot off of him, kicking it across the room so hard the wall dented. He stumbled towards the other one, slamming his blade into its chest and watching as it streaked through the air towards Master Hand. Master Hand stopped it with telekinesis, setting it down gently. He glared down at Cloud, who could hardly stand on his own two feet, and yet the anger being fed to him kept him awake.

"You are more trouble than you're worth, Cloud Strife," Master Hand muttered. "You've pushed me far enough. Now it's time for you to learn how things work around here. R.O.B., take him to the conditioning room." The two robots that Cloud had attacked got back up and approached him again. He swung sluggishly at one of them, through half-closed eyes, but the swing missed and his blade was stolen from him. He activated his Limit, calling on the strength of Climhazzard to retrieve his sword. He dashed forward, picked it up off the floor, and jumped straight up towards Master Hand, leaving behind a trail of sparking pink energy. Master Hand just took the hit, shaking off the pain as though he'd been slapped by a child. Cloud landed on the ground, breathing hard, anger still being pumped into his brain from the drug, his Limit threatening to break again. This wasn't natural, he knew, his Limit breaking so quickly. But he might as well make use of it.

He roared, embracing the rage and breaking his Limit again. One of the robots shot a laser into his side and he went flying into the wall. Several bones broke upon impact, but through his drugged and furious mind he didn't feel the pain. He just dragged himself to his feet and activated Cross Slash, hoping to tear apart at least one of the robots. His quick swipes with his sword sent it careening about the room and even into the other one, and it finally looked damaged. It still got up, but it had a slash across its front and one of the lights in its goggles went out.

Cloud smiled. He could hurt these things. It just took a Limit Break to do it. Well, since he'd been given unlimited anger, he now had as many Limit Breaks as he wanted. Alarms went off somewhere, and more robots began pouring into the lobby. Toon Link's unconscious body was trampled in the wake of the advancing bots. Cloud didn't even notice. He only had one thought going through his mind; stay awake, and destroy more bots. Another wave of rage coursed through him, and his body glowed blue again. His hands were shaking from the excessive use of his Limit. He was going to hurt himself if he kept this up. Even his body couldn't take this constant buildup of power. He released Limit after Limit, destroying as many robots as he possibly could. Sparking machines lay before him, and his eyes glowed with glee as he beheld the destruction he'd wrought. Thought was lost to him now. He was drowning in rage and power. The control drug was still pulling on him, but his fury was more than enough to overpower it. Even so, his state of awareness was less than desirable. He could only see general blurs, his vision seemed permanently tinged blue, and the only goal he had in mind was to just keep tearing up robots. Master Hand was completely forgotten. Toon Link was forgotten. All he knew was rage and robots.

But after releasing yet another Limit Break, this time going so far as to use Omnislash, Cloud's body couldn't take anymore. He crashed into the ground hard, the robot he'd attacked lying in pieces around the lobby, sparks decorating the carnage and giving Cloud an addled sense of successful revenge. He moved to stand again, grimacing as he began to feel pain. His ribs were bruised, maybe broken, and his fingers were constantly quivering. But he didn't quit. At least, he didn't want to. He dragged himself into a standing position and was immediately smashed into a wall. His vision flickered. It was still tainted blue. He broke his Limit again, hissing in pain as the blue flames began to burn his skin. He'd used it too much. This wasn't natural. He couldn't stop himself. His Limit burned him up, and he lacked the strength to actually use it now. A robot fired a laser into his side. His head collided with the wall now, and Cloud shuddered as something cracked. His blade fell from his hands, and Master Hand laughed at him. His blue-rimmed vision faded to black, and he lost consciousness.